THE POLAR BEAK. 235 



Since then I have hunted and killed a number of Polar 

 Bears on land, and have heard many strange stories con- 

 cerning them from Indians and Eskimos. The result of 

 some of my observations and experience I now commit to 

 paper, for the benefit of those who have not had similar 

 opportunities of studying this strange denizen of the hyper- 

 borean regions. 



The White Bear is an amphibious animal, but seems 

 more at home on icebergs and ice-floes than on land. The 

 reason is obvious. Food of the kind that he prefers is much 

 more easily obtained on floating ice than on land, so that 

 the latter is seldom approached by the Polar Bear, save at 

 the time when the females proceed to winter quarters in the 

 interior, some distance from the sea-coast, for the purpose 

 of hybernating and bringing forth their young. This occurs 

 in the latter part of September or beginning of October. 

 The male Bear accompanies the female until he has seen her 

 domiciled, and then returns to the coast, usually in Novem- 

 ber or December. No sooner does he reach his former 

 habitat than he proceeds out to sea to hunt and fish for' his 

 living. The she-Bears, with their cubs, return to the coast 

 in March, April, or May. The usual number of cubs at 

 a birth is two — sometimes there is only one, and rarely 

 three. Females are lean in spring, and of course are more 

 aggressive when taking care of their young than at other 

 times. 



White Bears, as a rule, try to evade the hunter; still, 

 there are individuals that will attack first. Although the 

 Polar Bear is synonomously termed the White Bear, they 

 are not all white. Those that are most likely to run away 

 from the hunter are pure white. From the smallest to the 

 largest size, these White Bears are timid, and I have noticed, 

 on their being killed, that they are the fattest. The most 

 dangerous and aggressive kind, other than females with 

 cubs, is the large-sized male Bear of a yellowish, dirty color, 

 and an Indian usually leaves this kind alone, unless he has 

 a companion, or has perfect confidence in his own nerve and 

 his weapon. Another sort is the small-sized Bear, of both 



